In December 2013, Tracey Bartholomew was named as the Columbia Head Women’s Soccer Coach and will begin her first season at the helm in 2014. Bartholomew becomes the third head coach in program history.

In her first season at the helm in 2014, Bartholomew quickly turned Columbia into one of the top defensive teams in the country en route to a 7-4-6 overall winning record and an 2-3-2 Ivy League record.

The Lions strength came from its team defense that entered the NCAA top-10 in goals-against average with an season-best average of 0.519. The Lions also climbed up to 20th overall in shutout percentage at 0.563, including nine shutouts on the year. In goal, the Lions boasted three goalkeepers who posted multiple shutouts this season, including Allison Spencer, Grace Redmon and Gabby Dubick. Spencer and Redmon both have tallied three shutouts on the year, while Dubick garnered a pair of shutouts to start the season.

Columbia spread the wealth on offense with 16 different players tallying points on the season.The Lions saw at least one player from each class post an assist and a goal.

The Lions capped the season placing four players on the All-Ivy League team. Three recieved second team honors, including senior forward Coleen Rizzo and first-year defenders Kerry Manion and Natalie Ambrose. Senior midfielder Torie Goode also gained honorable mention status.

For 14 seasons from 2000-13, Bartholomew presided over the successful NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer program of Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y. Bartholomew led the Blackbirds to three NCAA College Cup championship tournament appearances (2012, 2011, 2006), and won the Northeast Conference regular season championship in 2010, 2008 and 2006. This past season, LIU Women’s Soccer made the NEC conference tournament finals for the seventh time in the past nine years.

Bartholomew was named NEC Coach of the Year in 2008 and her teams earned NSCAA Regional Rankings in six of the last seven years. Over her career, she has developed five NSCAA All-Regional players and 31 All-NEC players, in addition to an NEC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Bartholomew’s 2010 team tallied the most wins in LIU history with 15. Under her leadership, LIU won or tied 23 consecutive games at home between 2004 and 2006, which was the 12th best home-unbeaten streak in NCAA at the time. Bartholomew’s teams have also been successful off the field earning 12 straight NSCAA Team academic awards, with many student-athletes earning NEC Academic Honor Roll, four NSCAA Scholar All-East Region and an Academic All-American.

“I am very excited at the prospect of building a women’s soccer program that meets Columbia’s standard of excellence,” said Bartholomew. “I look forward to working with the talented group of players already at Columbia, along with recruiting future student-athletes to help bring an Ivy League championship back to Columbia.”

After a successful playing career at the University of Rochester – where she led the Yellowjackets to four University Athletic Association titles and NCAA tournament appearances, Bartholomew began her coaching career at Colgate University, where she was an assistant coach for five years. During her time at Colgate, the Raiders won five Patriot League titles and made four NCAA tournament appearances.

Bartholomew has been a summer instructor at soccer camps for young adults and college-bound players of both genders. She was the assistant director of Colgate’s Soccer Fit Academy for five years, and has also been a head coach at the U.S. Military Soccer Camp and the Syracuse University Soccer Camp, and a staff member at the University of Rochester Soccer School.

For eight years Bartholomew was under the tutelage of some of the premier goalkeeper coaches in the nation, including Matt Clark, Bernie Watt, Joanie Schokow and former U.S. Women’s National Team coach Tony DiCicco.

Bartholomew graduated magna cum laude from Rochester with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a 3.71 GPA. She also was a member of the school’s basketball team.

The successful coach and mentor added to her academic résumé in 2005, earning a Master’s of Science in exercise physiology from LIU. She received the Dean’s Award with a 4.0 GPA and serves as an adjunct professor in the Health Sciences Department, teaching courses in sports, physical activity and performance, neuroscience and senior project and thesis.